


Milky Way

by luckyrobin



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-12
Updated: 2013-07-12
Packaged: 2017-12-19 07:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckyrobin/pseuds/luckyrobin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If every star is connected to a few others, and every one of those is connected to a few more…I figured that somewhere in this infinite sky, our stars must be connected too." Aoba and Mink pass their days together, but their uncertainty persists. Multichapter, ratings will range from G to T. Chapters will vary in tone/length, but there will be a resolution to this story. Takes place after the main game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Milky Way

**Author's Note:**

> Finally posting this, the first DMMD fanfiction I started. I have not played re:connect, so any re:connect spoilers are unintentional. Most things about Mink's culture/personality post-Platinum jail are headcanon. The chapters will vary in length and tone, but there is a resolution and a direction to this story. In general, the chapters will follow a linear narrative with some flashbacks. WARNING: Future chapters may reference past abuse, the rating will be changed to reflect this when they are released, and I will put a warning in the notes.
> 
> Hope you enjoy

 

### CHAPTER 1: MILKY WAY

A translucent stream blown out between pursed lips. Wisps of smoke dissolving into the darkness. Aoba’s eyes lazily followed the trail before landing on a pipe and the thick knuckles that held it. Mink crouched on the wooden porch, eyes staring at something Aoba couldn’t see. It unsettled him a bit, that he wasn’t sure if Mink was deep in thought or empty-headed, relaxed or weary. Mink’s head shifted, his face still hidden to Aoba. This silence, was it amicable or awkward? Or maybe he was the only one who was having such concerns. Aoba pulled his eyes away from Mink and towards the night sky.

  
“I’d never seen stars like this before coming here.”  
         

 The only response was another exhalation of smoke.  
          

“Probably because this place is untouched. Not like Midorijima.”  
          

Mink grunted. Aoba remembered how his companion hated small talk and swallowed.  
         

“My first night here, I was wondering…if I would ever find you. I imagined that I was a star, and that each of these other stars was a person that I’d met. If every star is connected to a few others, and every one of those is connected to a few more…I figured that somewhere in this infinite sky, our stars must be connected too. In a constellation.”

Silence. Aoba felt his face grow hot. The thirty-inch emptiness of the doorframe between them seemed to stretch into a canyon.

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“What?”

“Constellations.”

As if Aoba didn’t feel embarrassed enough, saying something like that. “I just…it’s the feeling behind it!”

It would have been better if Mink scoffed at his indignation, or teased him, or chuckled with amusement, not that Aoba could imagine Mink chuckling. His stoicism bit at Aoba’s insides, the candid and childlike feelings that he had revealed.

“Once, there was a beautiful maiden who fell in love with the man on the moon.”

Aoba turned to Mink at the sudden effusion of words. He sounded different, somehow. Disregarding Aoba’s surprise, Mink continued.

“The girl lamented that she could not tell the moon her feelings. His soft light comforted her by night, and the gentle rolling of the tides he created lulled her to sleep. When she was in despair, that moon would rise every night to bring her hope and reassurance. She wondered if the moon was lonely, lighting the sky all alone at night when the world was asleep.”

“This girl was a fisherman’s daughter. One day when she was helping her father with his work, she found a pearl. She held the pearl up to the sky, and had an idea.”

“Every day, the girl searched the ocean for clams. She slowly threaded each pearl she found onto a fishing wire. By night, she strung the pearls atop the tallest tree in the forest. Each pearl was like a little moon, creamy and radiant. She hoped that even though each pearl had but a fraction of the moon’s light, that the moon would see them from the sky and feel a bit of the warmth that he always sent to her.”

“One night, as the girl napped from atop a tree branch, she was awakened by a rustling. The pearls hanging from the branches around her were gone. She looked down to see a man pulling down the fishing line. She jumped down from the tree and chased the thief who had dared to steal the gift for her beloved.”

“She chased him until dawn: between the trees, down the beach, and up a hill. Finally, she wrestled the pearls away from him. In the struggle, the fishing line snapped and the pearls scattered into the air. The girl lamented that her precious feelings had been lost, that the moon would have to be alone, again.”

“The next night, the girl stayed indoors. She could not bear to face the moon after what had happened. When the sky turned dark, she heard the buzzing of voices from outside. She ran outside to see what all the commotion was about. “

“The sky was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Every inch was littered with tiny pinpoints of light. The villagers left their homes to gasp and smile with delight at the wondrous sight. As they all danced under the moon and the starlit night, the girl was happy. Because the moon would never be alone again.”

Throughout Mink’s story, Aoba kept his gaze fixed on the stars and held his breath, frightened to interrupt the words that had burst forth. He was afraid to break it, the silence that ensued. Slowly, tentatively, he turned towards his companion.

Mink’s eyes were lifted to the stars.


End file.
